If there was one thing lots of us would change about our bodies, it could be the flexibility to realize lean muscle mass as fast as we placed on fat. Unfortunately, there’s not quite a bit we will do about this little inconvenient truth.
That said, there’s a way to hurry up the means of constructing muscle and creating lean body mass. To do this, essentially the most effective complement in the marketplace is, for sure, creatine. Creatine supplementation shouldn’t be only essentially the most effective means to placed on muscle, it does it the fastest.
The excellent news is that even essentially the most impatient lifters will see results pretty fast, so let’s stop waiting around and answer the query: Exactly how long does creatine take to work?
Table of Contents:
- What Is Creatine?
- How Long Does It Take Creatine To Start Working?
- Aspects That Affect How Long It Takes Creatine To Work
- How Long Should You Take Creatine?
- Advantages Of Creatine Supplementation
- Creatine Side Effects
- FAQs
What Is Creatine?
Creatine is a non-proteinogenic amino acid with a high-energy phosphate group attached (this is vital below). Your body is in a position to synthesize creatine internally through the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine. Nonetheless, most of our creatine stores are consumed through our weight-reduction plan, primarily pork and fish.
95% of our total creatine is stored inside our muscle tissue, with the remaining 5% stored in our testes and brain. Our muscles hold most of our creatine attributable to its role in considered one of our three metabolic systems: the ATP-CP or phosphagen system.
The phosphagen system supplies energy for physical activity that is quick and highly intense, including movements resembling sprinting and weight training.
When ATP is used to generate energy, it loses considered one of its phosphate groups and becomes ADP. To synthesize ATP, creatine phosphate will hand over its phosphate group to hitch an ADP compound to replenish ATP.
How Long Does It Take For Creatine To Work?
This query is tough to reply as there are such a lot of aspects to think about. Things to take into consideration include:
- How much creatine do you may have before supplementation?
- How much creatine are you taking?
- Are you performing a loading phase?
- What’s your definition of “working”?
That said, we now have a reasonably good idea of what to anticipate on average. Let’s take a look at just a few different timelines.
How Long Does It Take Creatine To Work? 1 Week Creatine Results
For those who decide to take a maintenance dose of 3-5 grams immediately slightly than perform a loading phase, you likely won’t experience anything after one week.
Keep in mind that if you first start taking creatine, all the purpose is to extend your creatine stores. Subsequently, you will not see any real advantages until you’ve got raised your levels significantly. Taking 3-5 grams of creatine from day one will take about one month to fill your creatine stores.
Now let’s consider you partake in a loading phase of 5-7 days. During this era, you’d take 20-25g every day, filling your stores in 5-7 days. Doing this may yield results immediately.
Short-term supplementation can yield serious results, including the development of the next:
- Maximal power/strength (5–15%)
- Work performed during sets of maximal effort muscle contractions (5–15%)
- Single-effort sprint performance (1–5%)
- Work performed during repetitive sprint performance (5–15%)
- Increase weight by 1-3kg¹
Take into account that your initial weight gain comes out of your muscle cells drawing in water. Nonetheless, when paired with resistance training, a portion of this weight gain may even be muscle growth. You may learn more about this in our article: Does Creatine Make You Gain Weight?
How Long Does It Take For Creatine To Start Working? 1 Month Creatine Results
For those who began taking your maintenance dose on day 1, your creatine stores shall be filled after one month, yielding the identical results as above.
For individuals who do a loading phase for the primary 5-7 days, you will be on a maintenance dose for the remaining time (3-3.5 weeks)².
Your initial gains will decelerate during maintenance, so from here on, your gains will proceed but at a slower rate. Nonetheless, it’s best to feel higher and stronger.
Creatine Loading Phase: Before/After
Now let’s take a look at what happens before and after taking creatine. Essentially the most profound effects occur before and after your loading phase. That is if you drastically change your uptake, causing significant physiological changes and noticeable performance improvement.
You’ll notice your body and muscles look much fuller as you’ll add weight quickly. Within the gym, you will have more energy regarding your workload, including lifting more weight. As well as, you will find which you can perform at peak levels for longer periods.
One Reddit user explains their “after” experience taking creatine: “I began taking it a few month ago. I placed on about 3lbs, but I do not feel any different (e.g bloated or chubbier). I can still see the vein in my bicep even no pump. In order that made me feel higher. It did make me thirstier, and I already drink a TON of water. I do think I see a improvement in performance… can get just a few more reps, and/or go up a little bit of weight (I have been training for just a few years, so I do not progress in weight much — in order that has been nice).” (source)
As well as, one other Reddit user provides a women’s perspective on their “after” experience of taking creatine: “I did a ten day loading phase of 10g/day. Now I maintain on around 3g/day. I actually do notice a difference in how briskly I’m progressing. I do power through fatigue significantly better than I used to. I used to be paranoid about bloating while loading, and I do know you would like a lot of water in any case while you are taking it to avoid cramping. I no joke drank a minimum of 6L of water per day. (That was somewhat much to keep up, but I’m at all times a 3-4L type of lady.) I didn’t gain weight from creatine. I bloat somewhat more steadily than I used to, however the bloat doesn’t persist. I do know some people have far more bloat and discomfort, but I used to be lucky and I’m really glad I gave it a try. I haven’t any thoughts on creatine while reducing weight – I’m eating at or above maintenance every single day. My priority is constructing strength.” (source)
Aspects That Affect How Long It Takes Creatine to Work
As mentioned several times, quite a few aspects can affect how long it takes for creatine to “work.” Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at each.
1) Weight-reduction plan:
What you eat can affect how long it takes to fill your stores on two fronts.
The primary is that certain foods will provide more creatine. For instance, vegans are notorious for having significantly lower creatine stores than meat eaters. Again, pork and fatty fish are the most effective natural sources of creatine.
Second, it has been found that taking creatine with carbs may help with creatine absorption and retaining the next amount of creatine. At the identical time, creatine also can help absorb carbs, so it is a win-win.
2) Consistency:
While this shouldn’t should be said, consistency is an enormous component of creatine supplementation, especially if you first begin. For instance, in case you were to only take creatine every other day if you first start, it could take twice as long to fill your stores.
3) Loading Phase:
Taking creatine with a loading phase will significantly speed up your absorption of creatine. As mentioned above when discussing creatine loading impact effectiveness, using a loading phase of 20-25 grams of creatine a day can fill your stores in 5-7 days⁴. Alternatively, using 3-5 grams of creatine a day takes an entire month.
Some people may not give you the chance to take 25 grams a day and should opt to take less (10-15 grams), which puts the loading phase around two weeks or so.
Now, simply because you skip the loading phase and take a small dose to start out does not imply you will not also see results. It should just take longer to spice up your creatine levels.
One Reddit user explains their experience, which involved bypassing the loading portion. “Just began taking creatine about 2 months ago. 5g every day, no loading phase. What I’ve noticed up to now:
- Gained about 1.5 lb about 5 weeks in, seemingly overnight. (123-4lbs to 125-6lbs)
- Muscle size, particularly biceps and triceps, visibly a bit greater. (Water retention?)
- If I do not drink enough water, I get headaches.
- My assistance work seems to have improved – I can get 11-12 reps where I used to get 9-10.
- I’m recovering from workouts well, despite having recently modified programs to something higher volume.
I do know loads of that’s anecdotal and might be attributed to loads of things aside from creatine, so YMMV. Even when it is a placebo effect, it appears to be doing something positive, so I plan to maintain taking it for the foreseeable future.” (source)
4) Type Of Creatine:
Relating to sorts of creatine, there was loads of speak about latest variations of creatine being absorbed faster, but lots of these claims are exaggerated or simply mistaken. Studies have shown that any difference, if one exists, is small⁵.
Plus, creatine monohydrate has advanced, and a few micronized versions could also be absorbed faster. All that said, the kind of creatine almost definitely doesn’t make much difference.
My favorite creatine is Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Monohydrate for its premier status, along with the indisputable fact that micronized creatine is extremely soluble and as pure as you’ll be able to get.
Fascinated by some more of my top creatine picks? Take a look at our article featuring the 8 Best Creatine Supplements.
Creatine Pills vs Powder
One other selection you will have is that if you ought to take powder or pills. The creatine used is precisely the identical, but the first difference will come right down to convenience price. Pills are pre-measured and let you take them anywhere with you, but they’ll cost more.
For those who like the concept of pills over powder, my suggestion is Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Capsules. You will get prime quality creatine in every capsule, and in addition they make sure you’re getting the proper dosage to hit your muscle-building goals.
To learn more concerning the differences between creatine pills vs powder, take a look at our article, Creatine Pills vs Creatine Powder: Which Is Higher?
How Long Should You Take Creatine?
Creatine has an incredible track record with regards to safety. From the studies we now have, there doesn’t appear to be any reason you ever actually need to stop taking creatine or cycle it.
We’ll generally cycle a complement if our body builds up a tolerance to it or if our body is producing. Nonetheless, none of this happens, and our natural creatine production doesn’t suffer from exogenous consumption. Keep in mind that our body consumes creatine naturally, so all you do with taking creatine supplements is get it from a greater source.
For those who do determine to stop taking creatine sooner or later, learn what’s going to occur by testing our article: What Happens When You Stop Taking Creatine?
Advantages Of Creatine Supplementation
The advantages of creatine will be seen in almost every aspect of your life, from cognitive function to performance advantages. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the numerous health advantages that creatine provides⁴.
- Increase muscle mass
- Increase muscle strength
- Faster recovery
- Tolerate higher temperature
- Mitigate muscle loss during times of detraining
- Improved cognition
- Neuroprotector
Creatine Side Effects
You’ll have heard horror stories within the media or from naysayers about how creatine can break down healthy kidney function, but these are largely exaggerated.
Claims that creatine supplementation could cause renal failure, or a minimum of harm your kidneys, have some truth to them. Nonetheless, this only applies to those that have already got kidney damage. Creatine could cause extra stress to the kidneys, so in the event that they have already got a low function, the additional stress could cause more injury.
Alternatively, healthy individuals is not going to experience this issue, as coping with stress is what your kidneys are presupposed to do. We like to elucidate this using a walking illustration. Walking is great for general health if you’re healthy. But when you may have a broken ankle, walking will only make it worse.
Essentially the most common negative effects of creatine revolve around bloating and gastric distress. If that is a problem, you’ll be able to decide to take smaller doses more steadily. As a substitute of taking 5 grams without delay, take 1g servings five times a day.
That said, quite a few studies have checked out whether creatine is a protected short-term and long-term complement (10+ years). They’ve all concluded that taking creatine supplements so long as the person is healthy⁵.
FAQs
It is time to answer some specific questions.
What happens if I take creatine every single day?
It’s best to take a creatine complement every single day! That is the way you will maintain high creatine stores.
Is creatine taken before or after a workout?
Studies show that it likely doesn’t matter. Nonetheless, if there’s a profit, it’s from taking creatine after your workout. For more information on this topic, take a look at our article: When’s The Best Time To Take Creatine?
How long does creatine last during a workout?
The complete time. Creatine provides advantages through chronic supplementation. Its advantages aren’t acute as such when taking creatine.
How much water should I drink on creatine?
When taking creatine, drink 8 ounces of water. Then, throughout the day, drink a gallon.
How briskly does creatine construct muscle?
You’ll gain 1-3kg of weight in your first week of supplementation. Learn more by testing our article: How To Take Creatine To Construct Muscle & Strength.
Does creatine provide you with energy?
Creatine provides the flexibility to replenish ATP, your body’s true source of fuel. After we say “energy,” we are usually not talking about stimulation but slightly a source of fuel that is crucial to operate.
Does creatine make you stronger?
Yes! You may expect to be 5-15% stronger.
How much faster does creatine make you?
Creatine supplementation can increase sprint speed by 1-5% in the primary few weeks.
How Long Does It Take For Creatine To Work? The Results
As mentioned above, creatine is hands down the most effective complement you’ll be able to buy. I even have a saying: “For those who’re not taking creatine, you are doing it mistaken.”
In point of fact, it doesn’t matter how long it takes to start out seeing the results of creatine, as you will see it relatively fast. Depending in your starting dose, the gains will are available one week to 1 month. Plus, when you see the results, they’ll follow you, and you will see latest improvements as you progress.
With all the pieces considered, your wait time shouldn’t matter. So long as you are taking creatine, you are doing it right.
Now that you already know you will see significant gains relatively quickly, head over to our article on the 8 Best Creatine Supplements For Lifters so you’ll be able to start seeing results now!
References:
- Kreider, R.B. Effects of creatine supplementation on performance and training adaptations. Mol Cell Biochem 244. (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022465203458
- Buford TW, Kreider RB, Stout JR, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2007;4:6. Published 2007 Aug 30. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-4-6
- Green, A. L., Simpson, E. J., Littlewood, J. J., Macdonald, I. A., & Greenhaff, P. L. (1996). Carbohydrate ingestion augments creatine retention during creatine feeding in humans. Acta physiologica Scandinavica, 158(2). https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-201X.1996.528300000.x
- Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:18. Published 2017 Jun 13. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z
- Antonio, J., Candow, D. G., Forbes, S. C., Gualano, B., Jagim, A. R., Kreider, R. B., Rawson, E. S., Smith-Ryan, A. E., VanDusseldorp, T. A., Willoughby, D. S., & Ziegenfuss, T. N. (2021). Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-021-00412-w
